Singapore's Jewel Changi stands low in airport friendliness ranking

By Hoang Phong October 3, 2025 | 03:08 pm PT

Tourists visit the Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore in October 2024. Photo by Hoang Phong

Singapore's Jewel Changi only ranked 17th in a list of world's 20 friendliest airports, far behind many of regional rivals, a report shows.

The report from U.K.-based travel services company Airport Parking & Hotels shows that only 65.7% of passenger reviews mentioning staff at Jewel Changi were positive, placing it behind Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan (73.6%), Narita International Airport, Japan (73.1%) and Jeju International Airport, South Korea (68.6%).

To compile the list, the company analyzed more than 71,000 Google reviews posted from May 20 to late August that mentioned airport staff at the world's 100 busiest airports and 23 of the U.K.'s busiest.

Within these reviews, it specifically searched for words relaying positive experiences such as "friendly", "polite", "helpful" and "professional" in order to rank the friendliest overall.

Situated in Terminal 1 of Changi Airport, Jewel is a nature-inspired entertainment and retail complex that is home to the HSBC Rain Vortex, a 40-meter-high indoor waterfall, known as the tallest in the world.

Encircling the waterfall is the Shiseido Forest, featuring 2,500 tall trees and 100,000 diverse shrubs that contribute to air purification and a serene atmosphere.

Last April, Changi Airport was named the world's best airport for 2025 at the World Airport Awards organized by London-based aviation consultancy Skytrax, after losing the title to Qatar's Hamad International Airport last year.